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The chapter tries to bring clarity to the legal theoretical debate by distinguishing between different senses of 'legal principle' and by analysing these in the framework of the multi-layered nature of law. Thus, the decision principles which Dworkin and Alexy have discussed as applicable legal norms, alongside legal rules, are not exactly the same as the general legal principles summarizing the normative premises of a distinct branch of law or the normative legal order as a whole. The chapter also defends the distinction between principles and policies embraced by Dworkin but downplayed by Alexy. The distinction facilitates understanding how positive law can accomplish the crucial function of self-limitation. The distinction is also important for perceiving the particularity of EU law as a policy-oriented legal order; a characteristic feature which forms a backdrop to EU law's conflicts with the more principle-oriented national legal regimes of Member States ; Peer reviewed

With its provisions on the EMU, the Maastricht Treaty introduced a new, 'macroeconomic' layer into the European economic constitution. The Maastricht layer of the European economic constitution was based on the following principles: exclusive competence of the EU in monetary policy in the euro area; price stability as the primary objective of Europeanized monetary policy; independence of the ECB and national central banks; Member State sovereignty in fiscal and economic policy with the Union accomplishing a mere coordinating task; Member State fiscal liability as the reverse of their fiscal sovereignty; and primacy of price stability pursued by Europeanized monetary policy over national fiscal-policy objectives. The ongoing euro-area crisis is a constitutional crisis, too. The European responses to the crisis include, on the one hand, emergency measures and stability mechanisms, and, on the other hand, strengthening European economic governance. As a consequence of these responses, the central Maastricht principles of the European economic constitution are teetering. However, the present constitutional crisis should not merely be conceived in economic terms. It extends to the political and social dimensions; it also affects democracy and transparency, as well as social values and rights.